Google self-driving cars are headed for Texas

Self-driving cars have hit the streets of Austin, TX, Google
announced on Tuesday.

It will be the vehicles' first lengthy foray outside California.

The autonomous vehicles are in the Lone Star State to help
engineers test the cars’ software in “different driving
environments, traffic patterns and road conditions,” the company
said in
a Google+ post.

“We have done short demos in other cities over the years,
including in Austin,” a company spokesperson told Business
Insider.

“But this is the
first time we've planned to be testing in a city outside Mountain
View for any extended period of time.”

Texas officials welcomed the self-driving Lexus RX450h SUV’s with
open arms, in much the same way that they welcomed Google’s
offices and the rollout of Google Fiber throughout the
region.

“As TxDOT focuses its efforts on the reduction
of congestion and highway safety, we welcome and support Google's
autonomous vehicle test within the state of Texas,” Texas
Department of Transportation Executive Director Joe Weber
told the Texas
Tribune.

“The successful integration of driverless trucks
and cars on to our current and future transportation network
could be a key factor toward achieving safe and reliable
transportation,” he continued.

Austin’s mayor, Steve Adler, echoed Weber’s welcome, saying in a
release that “Austin is special in part because we welcome new
technologies that could help improve our daily lives, and we can
easily see the potential self-driving cars have to reduce
accident rates and congestion.”

Texas will see Google's self-driving technology adapted for a
street-legal car, the Lexus RX450h. The podlike Google Car, which
Google says will eventually be the face of its self-driving
fleet, will stay in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Initially, the cars will be focused on a small
area north and northeast of downtown Austin, Google said in a
statement. The focus will be on creating detailed street maps and
other data the cars need in order to successfully navigate
complex thoroughfares.

Texans and their drivers may not be able to
easily accommodate the self-driving cars. The capital was ranked
by TomTom’s congestion index as the 13th worst congested town
in the United States.

Google has assured officials
that two “safety drivers” will be in the vehicles at all times,
in case they are needed to avert catastrophe.

"We’re ready to take on
Austin’s pedicabs, pickup trucks, and everything in between," the
company said. "Keep it weird for us, Austin."